When Covid-19 started spreading around the world in early 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the disease a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
At that time, many would’ve wondered when this would be over.
Now, we can finally consider the pandemic at its end, as the WHO has said Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency.
Source: WHO on Twitter
However, that doesn’t mean it’s not still a threat, the WHO chief added.
On Thursday (4 May), the WHO emergency committee on the Covid-19 pandemic met for the 15th time.
According to a statement on the meeting released on Friday (5 May), the committee advised that it is time to “transition to long-term management” of the pandemic.
Source: WHO on Twitter
This is based on factors including:
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus agreed with the advice.
Accordingly, he determined that Covid-19 no longer constitutes a PHEIC — more than three years after it was declared as such.
Instead, the disease is now an “established and ongoing health issue”.
During a media briefing on Friday (5 May), Dr Tedros said the pandemic has been on a “downward trend” for more than a year.
Source: WHO on Twitter
This has allowed most countries to return to pre-Covid-19 life, he added.
Thus, he declared Covid-19 “over as a global health emergency”.
Countries can now transition from emergency mode to managing Covid-19 alongside other infectious diseases.
However, that doesn’t mean Covid-19 is over as a global health threat, he cautioned.
Covid-19 claimed one life every three minutes last week, he pointed out, and thousands of sufferers around the world are still fighting for their lives.
Thus, “this virus is here to stay”, and there’s also the risk of new variants emerging.
So he warned countries not to let down their guard because of this declaration.
What it does mean, however, is that the emergency committee’s work is finished.
However, another one may yet be formed if the situation calls for it, as Dr Tedros said,
I will not hesitate to convene another Emergency Committee should Covid-19 once again put our world in peril.
He will now activate a never-before-used provision to establish a Review Committee to develop “long-term, standing recommendations for countries on how to manage Covid-19 on an ongoing basis”.
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Featured image adapted from WHO on Twitter.
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